Kevin Campbell believes Mikel Arteta was correct to give Ethan Nwaneri their Arsenal debut. He likens his rise to Wayne Rooney.
The former Gunners strikerRooney was at Goodison Park as he began to get into the Toffees’ first team fold, which was the first step in his path to stardom.
Rooney, who went on to become Manchester United and England’s all-time leading goalscorer, caught Campbell and his Everton teammates offguard after showing his quality as a 14-year-old in a friendly for the club, an impact that the 52-year-old believes is very similar to that of Nwaneri.
The 15-year old He made his Arsenal debut against BrentfordLast weekend, to be the youngest player in Premier League history. Danny Mills to criticise Mikel Arteta’s decision, saying: “I don’t understand the logic behind it’.
However according to Campbell, Rooney’s breakthrough showed that Arteta was right to give the youngster the opportunity if he’s a star in the making.
Speak on TalkSPORT Breakfast, Campbell said: “I was captain at Everton and I’d come back from an ankle injury and we were playing a non-league side, Southport I think it was.
“We went to play the game and this kid was playing, I thought he was the coach’s nephew on the bus! We got on the pitch and were warming up and I didn’t think anything of it, he was just doing a warm-up.
“We started playing and the kid was absolutely unbelievable. I said ‘how old are you?’ And they said he was 14. I’m thinking that this could come straight into the first team now and hold his own.
“I got taken off after 65 minutes and normally as an experienced player you’d go in and have your shower, but I stayed and I watched. He was moved from striker to left-midfielder, and he was by far the best player on the pitch. Wayne Rooney was the name of that youngster.
“Fast-forward two years and Wayne Rooney finishes school. He then bypasses all of the youth team and comes straight to train with the first team and all of the first team players’ mouths were open at how good he was at 16.
“So I get it. Danny Mills can say whatever he wants to say but as far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
“When a kid is special you’ve got to look after him and you’ve got to test him. All of us were tested as children, even Danny Mills. Part and parcel of it is being able to handle it.”
Ray Parlour also went on a memory lane, recalling Jack Wilshere and Cesc Fabregas’s breakthroughs at Arsenal as gifted teenagers.
He said: “Fabregas, what a player. He was just 15 when he joined Arsenal. At 16 he was part of the first team and was always set to be a great player.
“Jack [Wilshere] was another one who started training with Thierry Henry and it didn’t faze him at 15 years old. He’s another guy who could have probably gone in. Although he did make his debut at the age of 15, he wasn’t as young as 15.
“I can see both sides of it because you’ve got to protect players like that.”
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